Hi Lucee81,
You dont have to go overboard with really heavy gear and concrete blocks for sinkers.
Anything up to a 2knot current you can get away with a pound of lead or if it gets bad put 2 sinkers on.
Its just the wind drift that will upset things but you can always get the captain to motor into the current or wind and hold position
If you are going to use a deck winch loaded with 150lb line it will definitely be a skulldrag but go the rod n reel way and these fish will fight well while they are down deep but float up once they get close to the boat.
We have had to chase the fish a few times to keep up with them and getting them off the bottom can be a big job.
Try putting a SP at the top swivel on your dropper rig as there are some big Nannygai out there that love SPs.
The worst part is winding your line back up without a fish on when your bait goes and thats why I use jigs n SPs at times.
Once you get over the first couple of windups the pain goes and it doesnt hurt anymore
Good luck n lets us know how you go.
cheers, steve
Thanks for that Steve, about how many km's do you travel to do this type of fishing?
I wont be attempting the trip by myself and will hopefully be following the crowds. will rethink this whole adventure once i know how much fuel i have.
My thoughts as long as i can get out there it should be far enough that i get mistaken for a boat person (being arab) and towed back in with free dental.
I'd get you on my boat mate but I've got the full peanut gallery crewing whenever this trip takes place.
Your boat should be right given the weather is good and you carry some spare fuel........Bugman on here used to fish the shelf in his tiller steer tinny.
As for the whole boat person thing mate don't worry....I'm half Chinese so I too am hoping to get mistaken for a boat person.I've never had had free dental and a playstation before.
Trev you better got onto your mates in the Royal Navy and let them know theres a lost arab and chinaman pillaging the seas but leave it till the arvo so we dont use our fuel heading back in i wouldnt mind one of those free playstations. Pity i dont smoke anymore get those free too.
Muddy the weather next week is going to be great and I think I might be getting the flu so some fresh salt air is needed..
Lucee, Trev would be more likely to call "Dad's Army" then the Royal Navy !!
Here is a couple we got on the weekend off Southport.
22kg Blue Eye
28kg Bass Groper
32kg Bass Groper
We were using 300lb for the main part of the rig and 200lb minimum for the droppers, the blue eye nearly rubbed me through and we actually broke the leader on a smaller Bass Groper about 30m from the boat but luckily it floated to the surface so we backed over and stuck the gaff in it. I will edit up some video soon and it will give you an idea of how hard these fish fight! We were using electrics and going from 60 metres a minute to stopped and going backwards when the fish run! In saying that a lot of the guys in our club use a 50W loaded with 100lb braid and do it manually, but if you don't have good areas that is a hell of a lot of winding for no fish!! And to put it in perspective even with electrics we were only getting basically one drift per hour.
I am going to make up some rigs shortly as per what we were using, if anyone wants any they can purchase for $25, which may seem expensive but the time you buy 400lb three way swivels, 300lb leader, 16/0 circle hooks, lumo tube and crimps, they aren't cheap to make.
You will need a 1kw transducer as we were fishing 400 - 450m and you could see the fish on the sounder on the ledge. In any case you atleast want to be able to see the bottom on your sounder so you can pick up the structure where they are likely to hang! This was about a 30-50m ledge that we were fishing. If you are running a Furuno use 50htz, Ping Speed at about 5 or 6, scroll speed at 1/2 and then up the gain, also use split screen so you can see the bottom 10-20m. Unfortunately I didn't take any sounder shots, I will next time.
Anthony
Now that's what I am talking about... great fish !!
Its a shame you skirted it and used electrics
And thanks for the information on sounder settings and rigs its all help full and the fish pics just make me want to do it even more now !!
Cheers
Brett
Last edited by fishfeeder; 22-05-2012 at 12:47 PM. Reason: added more text
Hey Muddy just having a look over past posts from Bugman, 32km from the bar really isnt that far i think Tangalooma from Whyte Island is about that distance. Tweed Bar.
http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/sho...Tinny-Big-Fish
post 6....
Mate I was using the rod I use for catching reds and harnessed up, as for Mat being lazy and leving his 60kg rod in the rod holder well yes he should have had a skirt on!
Myself and another member of Surfers Paradise Game and Sports Fishing Club are going to do a challenge for either charity or the junior members of our club and are going to attempt to catch ooglies in 450m of water on handlines, it will be stop watch timed with the kgs of fish taken into consideration to declare the winner, all in good fun and no doubt will be lots of laughs!!
The way I see it is if I catch one of them and it takes 2hrs to get it up I wont care as I wont be dropping again !!!
Then I will take the wheel so the captain can enjoy the PAIN while I suck down beers...
Good idea for a charity, Now that is Extreme Fishing..